Local council faces backlash for excluding Australian flag in pamphlets
'It's not the first time this has happened,' Mr Macpherson said.
'Why wouldn't you just say, no other flags, there's one flag that unites us all, the Australian flag, all other flags, fly them on your own time.'
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Perth Now
23 minutes ago
- Perth Now
Push to delay penalty rates ban
The Coalition has indicated it will delay Labor's proposed laws to ban the reduction of penalty and overtime rates in modern awards, with Liberal MP Tim Wilson stating more information was needed on the impact on small businesses. A new Bill, which was introduced by Employment and Workplace Relations Minister Amanda Rishworth on Thursday, will also override the Fair Work Commission (FWC) from substituting the entitlements if it reduces the overall take-home pay of even a single worker on a modern award. However, Mr Wilson, the Coalition's small business and industrial relations spokesman, accused Labor of trying to 'ram' the legislation through parliament and signalled the opposition was likely to push the Bill to an inquiry. While he confirmed he'd reviewed the legislation, Mr Wilson said Ms Rishworth was still unable to answer how the Bill would affect small businesses. 'There is a simple reality. There are no penalty rates on jobs that do not exist,' he said. Tim Wilson said small businesses needed to be consulted on the proposed Bill. NewsWire / Martin Ollman Credit: News Corp Australia 'The Coalition supports penalty rates. We support higher wages … but that isn't what we're getting from this government with their approach, where their focus is how they do their pay-offs as part of their legislative victory lap, rather than focusing on how to improve the economic conditions that list the standards of living and the wages of Australians.' While Mr Wilson said the Coalition would 'obviously talk to parties from across the parliament', the opposition had yet to take a firm stance on the Bill. Ms Rishworth urged the Coalition and Greens to support the legislation and said it was a 'key commitment' Labor took to the election. 'My message to the opposition is that they need to listen to the decision of the Australian people,' she said. 'The Australian people clearly back this government to get on with the job of getting wages moving and ensuring that Australians can earn more and keep more of what they earn.' In response, Mr Wilson said it was proper and 'standard' process to get an 'assessment of the impact of legislation'. 'This is standard, so they can make the claims about what their mandate may be, it doesn't mean it gives them a right to override the standard processes of legislative passage,' he said. As it stands, Labor will need either support of the Greens or the Coalition if it is to pass the legislation in the Senate. Employment and Workplace Relations Minister Amanda Rishworth introduced the Bill on Thursday. NewsWire / Martin Ollman Credit: News Corp Australia While the Greens have confirmed the party has reviewed the legislation, it has yet to reach a position. Greens workplace relations spokeswoman Barbara Pocock said the party was having a 'close look' at the Bill and would make a decision 'in the coming days'. She also pushed for stronger workers' rights like a four-day work week without a reduction in pay. Responding to whether the Greens would support pushing the legislation to an inquiry, she said the party would consider all options. 'This is a no-cost bill for small business, as I read it, but as I said earlier, I've just received the Bill,' she said. 'We're having a close look, and we will want to make sure that there are no unintended consequences and that we get the best possible Bill that we can for some of Australia's most vulnerable workers.' The election promise was prompted by a FWC review prompted by the Australian Retailers Association to allow senior management to take a 25 per cent wage increase above minimum award entitlements in exchange for overtime, weekend and public holiday penalty rates and rest breaks. The submission has been backed by the supermarket giants, plus beauty giant Mecca, as well as Kmart, Costco and 7-Eleven.
Sky News AU
an hour ago
- Sky News AU
Trump administration contradicts Labor by claiming lifting of beef import restrictions a 'major trade breakthrough'
The Trump administration has claimed victory over the decision to end a de facto ban on US beef imports, contradicting Australian government claims. The Albanese government has claimed its surprise decision to scrap biosecurity restrictions on US beef imports has nothing to do with trade negotiations, with Trade Minister Don Farrell telling Sky News Australia they were 'separate issues". But US Agriculture Secretary Brooke Rollins put out a statement on Thursday describing it as a 'major trade breakthrough'. Headlined 'Make Agriculture Great Again Trade Wins: President Trump Secures Greater Ag Market Access to Australia for American Beef,' Secretary Rollins' statement congratulates the US President for his successful negotiation strategy. 'American farmers and ranchers produce the safest, healthiest beef in the world. It's absurd that non-scientific trade barriers prevented our beef from being sold to consumers in Australia for the last 20 years,' Secretary Rollins said. 'This is yet another example of the kind of market access the President negotiates to bring America into a new golden age of prosperity, with American agriculture leading the way. 'Gone are the days of putting American farmers on the sidelines.' Australia imposed a blanket ban on US beef imports in 2003 following an outbreak of mad cow disease. While this was repealed in 2019, biosecurity rules remained in place to ensure beef from third-party countries was not imported to Australia via the US. But speaking on Thursday morning, Trade Minister Farrell said the government had decided to remove the restrictions on the advice of scientific experts. 'A process that's been going now for about 10 years ... has taken place. It's been a very lengthy review, and the review has found that it is now appropriate for Australia to receive American beef,' Senator Farrell said. 'We apply a very strict test in terms of whether the product is safe to be brought into Australia and that there is no risk to the Australian beef or cattle industry … and all of those tests have now been satisfied by the Department of Agriculture." 'We've got some of the top scientists in the world. We've kept out disease for a very long period of time in Australia. We want to continue keeping it out. But if the Americans are able to satisfy those tests, and that's what they've done, then we're prepared to allow them to import their beef.' Challenged on the timing of the decision, Mr Farrell insisted it had nothing to do with US trade negotiations or the imposition of tariffs by President Trump. 'This is not a process that's started since the election of President Trump. It goes back a very, very long period of time,' he said 'We don't link biosecurity issues with trade issues. They're separate issues.' "There's nothing suspicious about this at all'. National Senate leader Bridget McKenzie expressed scepticism about the timing and called for an independent review of the science. 'The timing is exquisite, that this ongoing process to just arrive with science and a protocol that can lift the ban just in time to meet President Trump's demands,' Senator McKenzie said. 'That's why we want to see an independent review.' 'For us to have peace of mind, we would like an independent review of the science that's being applied with respect to these export protocols that says that beef is safe to come in.
Sky News AU
3 hours ago
- Sky News AU
'There's nothing suspicious': Trade Minister Don Farrell grilled over surprise scrapping of US beef import restrictions
Trade Minister Don Farrell has denied the decision to end a de facto ban on US beef imports has anything to do with US trade negotiations, despite President Donald Trump specifically citing the biosecurity restrictions as a justification for tariffs. Mr Farrell was grilled over the decision on Thursday, with Sky News Australia's Laura Jayes questioning the suspicious timing of the announcement. 'We don't link biosecurity issues with trade issues. They're separate issues,' the Trade Minister said. A blanket ban on US beef imports - imposed following a mad cow disease in 2003 - was repealed in 2019. But biosecurity rules have remained in place due to the risk of beef from third-party countries being imported through the US, and no American beef has been imported under the new scheme. President Trump singled out the restrictions when announcing Australian exports to the US would be subject to a 10 per cent tariff. 'Australia bans – and they're wonderful people, and wonderful everything – but they ban American beef,' President Trump said. But Mr Farrell said the decision to remove the restrictions was the result of a lengthy review conducted over the past decade. 'This is not a process that's started since the election of President Trump. It goes back a very, very long period of time,' he said 'A process that's been going now for about 10 years... has taken place. It's been a very lengthy review, and the review has found that it is now appropriate for Australia to receive American beef. 'We apply a very strict test in terms of whether the product is safe to be brought into Australia and that there is no risk to the Australian beef or cattle industry… and all of those tests have now been satisfied by the Department of Agriculture." When challenged on the timing of the decision, Mr Farrell said there was "nothing suspicious about this at all'. 'The job of the federal government is to make absolutely certain that there is no biosecurity risk as a result of that, we've done that,' he said. 'We've got some of the top scientists in the world. We've kept out disease for a very long period of time in Australia. We want to continue keeping it out. But if the Americans are able to satisfy those tests, and that's what they've done, then we're prepared to allow them to import their beef.' But asked what specifically the US had done to satisfy Australia's requirements, the Trade Minister seemed not to know. 'Look, I'm not a scientist,' Mr Farrell said. 'We are satisfied as a result of what advice we've received from the American government that they meet those tests, so we are not going to risk our biosecurity by allowing product in that doesn't meet those tests that that test has to be met." Pressed on whether this meant Australia would simply take the US word that their products were safe, the Trade Minister reiterated that 'Americans have to satisfy the very high standards of biosecurity that the Australian government applies to every product that we bring in from overseas.' 'Can I say this ... our Australian agricultural scientists would not be allowing any product to come into Australia that does not meet our very strict biosecurity rules,' he said. 'We're not going to risk our industry. I mean, one of the reasons that we sell so much beef overseas, it's one of our biggest exports, one of our biggest agricultural exports, is that people have great faith in our biosecurity rules, and we're very strict about them. 'We're not going to drop our standards in any way when we allow beef to come in from overseas." 'But if those countries can satisfy those rules, then we're prepared to allow them to bring their product into Australia.' Asked whether there had been any recent developments in trade negotiations with the US, Mr Farrell said Australian representatives continued to argue that the decision to impose tariffs on Australia is the 'wrong course of action'. 'Every opportunity I get, every opportunity the prime minister gets, or the foreign minister gets, we push the case for the removal of these tariffs,' he said. 'We believe that we have a very strong argument to prosecute with the United States government that they should remove all tariffs on Australian products. We're going to continue at every opportunity we get to prosecute that argument. 'We think that because of our trading relationship with the United States, and the fact that it is so much in the favour of the United States, all of these tariffs should be removed. And we'll keep saying it.' 'My job and the job of the Albanese government is to prosecute the argument with the Americans until such time as they realise that these tariffs on Australia are a mistake. 'But we're not going to do anything that risks our biosecurity, and we're not going to do anything that impacts on our national interest.'
